Bollywood at a standstill

As the Coronavirus pandemic surges through the globe like wildfire, many industries have had to close down for the safety of everyone. One of the largest entertainment industries in the world - Bollywood - has also fallen prey to the virus, shutting down ongoing productions as well as delaying and even shelving the release of many films.

Bollywood is one of the largest contributors to the Indian economy, with thousands of films being produced a year. However, Bollywood is not the only entertainment industry in India. Apart from Hindi cinema, there are also 15+ other language industries like Tollywood (Telugu) and Kollywood (Tamil), who also produce hundreds of films in their regional languages. All of these industries create a large impact on the social and economic trends of India.

Film starts are almost equivalent to Gods in India. For example, Amitabh Bachchan is one of the most legendary and prominent actors in the industry. As seen below, many of his fans worship him and travel long distances, hoping to catch a glimpse of their beloved star.

Due to the pandemic, all of these stars have had to quarantine at home, while their films stop any and all production. One of my favorite film stars, Ranveer Singh was part of an exciting release - Sooryavanshi, alongside Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar. "The makers of Sooryavanshi were expecting massive box office numbers because the release had been strategically planned to coincide with a national holiday in India. Instead, the country went into a 21-day lockdown that day to stop the spread of coronavirus. Sooryavanshi's release was postponed indefinitely." The pandemic caused a major setback for many Bollywood films that could cause severe losses for production houses, including major ones.

Several stars also had to halt their shooting, even if they were mere days from completion. Deepika Padukone, one of the leading actresses in India presently, was supposed to fly to Sri Lanka a few days before the lockdown, to complete a shoot. ""The great thing is that we hadn't left Mumbai. We weren't stranded somewhere else. I know a lot of people who had literally a few days of shoot left to actually get done with a film,"" she stated in an interview to Bollywood critic Rajeev Masand.

Apart from Bollywood itself shutting down, theaters also closed their doors on fans during the lockdown, causing major financial distress in the industry. if the films couldn't be released, how would they make any money back on the film? As I've previously said, Bollywood is an extravagant industry, with movies being made around the world costing producers several millions of dollars. With no profit to make back, theaters themselves are going bankrupt, as production houses suffer major losses.

All in all, this pandemic has taught us the biggest lesson by taking down even the most gigantic industries in the world. Slowly but surely, Bollywood will finds its way to open its doors again and provide us with the entertainment that we have been anticipating for several months.

Sources used:

Rashid, H. (2020, April 11). Bollywood: Coronavirus brings India's mega movie industry to standstill. Retrieved November 1, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52198588